Phono stage hum


Dipping my toe into Tubes for first time.

Have been using simaudio moon lp5.3 phone stage.

today trying Manley Chinook tube stage.

getting what sounds like ground loop hum with the chinook and my thorens 160 super... tried with a different turntable (cheap teac) and no hum....

any ideas? 
otherones

Showing 4 responses by otherones

I appreciate the tips but the hum didn't go away.
A few other notes:
  • The hum is on both speakers
  • The hum increases/decreases with volume
  • The hum is 'mostly' drowned out with music playing but still audible and very audible in between tracks or during quiet parts of song
  • Thorens turntable + Sim Audio LP5.3 (solid state phono stage)= No Hum
  • Thorens turntable + Chinook (tube phono stage) = HUM
  • Teac turntable + Chinook (tube phono stage) = No hum
It is sad b/c I really like the sound of the Chinook but will probably return it in a couple days b/c I won't be able to stand the hum.
If anyone has other troubleshooting ideas, I'd be grateful :)
Both TT tested in same spot and I have also tried moving the phono stage as far away as I could... same result 
My amp (parasound a21) has a ground lift option and the hum is still there when enabled.  Would testing a cheater plug do anything different?

I will confirm the TT rca solder joint to make sure it is ok - but if there was an issue wouldn’t it be present on the other phono stage (sim audio lp5.3)?
I figured something interesting out - the hum is there even when the turn table power cord is unplugged.... but only if the TT RCAs are plugged into phono stage.

Strange that doesn’t happen with the other TT hooked up to the Manley.